DFL-controlled House to pass gun control bills, harsher punishment for straw purchases
Bullets. Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/N.J. Monitor.
House Democrats on Monday were on track to pass several gun control measures: new rules for how gun owners store their firearms, mandatory reporting for lost or stolen guns, a ban on certain rapid-fire triggers and tougher penalties for straw purchases of guns.
The measures are less ambitious than the proposed semi-automatic rifle bans that were introduced earlier in the session, though the bans could come back once Senate and House members meet to hash out a final bill. Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers were expected to pass the bills in the House on a party-line vote Monday.
But their fate in the Senate is uncertain — multiple DFL members represent purple districts with constituents who favor more permissive gun laws.
The bill creating new firearm storage mandates states a person may not leave their gun in any place in their home unless it’s unloaded and locked — meaning inoperable. A firearm could also be stored loaded or unloaded in a locked firearm storage unit or in a locked “gun room” that remains locked when unoccupied.
Owners who violate the law would be charged with a petty misdemeanor, with the penalties increasing if their gun is accessed by a child or if it’s incorrectly stored and later used in a felony crime or to harm someone.
The mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms bill states that gun owners must inform law enforcement of the loss or theft of their firearm within 48 hours of when the owner knew or “reasonably should have known” about the theft or loss. People who break this new law would be charged with a misdemeanor.
House members are expected to pass a law increasing the penalty for illegal “straw purchases” and ban binary triggers, which fire one round when the trigger is pulled and one round when it’s released — allowing shots to be fired quicker.
A man who fatally shot and killed two Burnsville police officers and a paramedic in February is alleged by prosecutors to have obtained his weapons by way of a straw purchaser — someone with a clean record who buys a gun for the sole purpose of giving or selling it someone who can’t legally own one due to prior convictions.
The bill would upgrade the straw purchase charge from a gross misdemeanor to a felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
House members are expected to debate the gun control bills for hours.
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